Reformed Church on Staten Island
Reformed Church on Staten Island an historic Dutch Reformed Church and Cemetery at 54 Port Richmond Avenue in Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York, has a Congregation that in 1665 brought their beliefs to the New World: personal and religious liberty, and economic opportunity. Today, we call these beliefs the American Dream.
In 1776 America's Founding Fathers embedded these beliefs into the Declaration of Independence as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Our Congregants fought for both sides -- on Staten Island the American Revolution was a vicious civil war. Our Patriots played pivotal roles, especially Joshua Mersereau, personally recruited by George Washington to spy, who is recognized on the Central Intelligence Agency website, as a founder of American intelligence. In 1783 our Patriot and Loyalist Congregants reconciled and set to work rebuilding our destroyed 1717 Church, and fashioning their new nation.
Our Congregant, Cornelius Vanderbilt, born in 1794, exploited these beliefs into a legendary fortune, as he created our modern business world.
The Reformed Church has been at this exact site since 1680. The first church was built shortly hereafter. The second church, built in 1717, was destroyed by the British during the Revolution. The third church was built in 1787. The current church, was built in 1844 in the Greek Revival style. It is a brick building set on a fieldstone foundation. The front facade features a portico with twin sets of flanking brick pilasters and a central pair of fluted Doric order columns.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
